"It was the time of our lives!" WL Jan 10-15 2010 NEW: 5/17 PTR LINK UP!! PG 44

[Charlefours]

Yay for the updates! I love to read your TR!

Cute idea about the hats Love how short the Princess line was for you--I hope we luck out too! We will have to try to make it to TT RD so we can meet the Fairies--it seems unreal the lines are so long for them. Love all the gorgeous photos too. I am looking forward to your comparsion of the different parade watching spots! :

 

[LilAnn]

I'm also so impressed with how much you got accomplished with the two little ones in tow. The hats and the mat frame look like great souveniers! I really like the hat idea but may save that for another trip. They would get ruined at this time, but I definitely want to try out the frame idea. And an autograph book, if I can get a hold of a cute cheap one. Love that Abby picked out the Ariel dress. I'm sure she will be beyond excited when she sees that she got the Belle costume too!

 

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

Girl, you really are making up for lost time - you've been an updating machine! But I'm so glad - I just love your updates!

What a neat idea with the mickey ear hats! They turned out so cute

I bet Abby is going to be so, so excited with her Belle costume! And how adorable is the matching AG outfit?!

It sounds like you all had a very full day. I'm definitely interested to hear how Aiden ended up the next day...

 

[longing2Batdisney]

Wonderful updates! Katie
I love the idea with the hats! I did not think I was getting a new hat this year (we just bought one last year and he did not want to wear it)...the dresses Abby choose are so cute. Ariel was always Gwendolyn's favorite princess. Can't wait to hear what happens to Aiden when he falls asleep that early...it is hit or miss with Ashton either he sleeps ALL night or he is up around 3 am ...

 

[BippityBoo]

Yay for the updates! I love to read your TR!

Cute idea about the hats Love how short the Princess line was for you--I hope we luck out too! We will have to try to make it to TT RD so we can meet the Fairies--it seems unreal the lines are so long for them. Love all the gorgeous photos too. I am looking forward to your comparsion of the different parade watching spots! :

Thank you!!! Rope drop is the key! I can not see how anyone would wait that long otherwise.

I hope to get to the parade comparison soon!

I'm also so impressed with how much you got accomplished with the two little ones in tow. The hats and the mat frame look like great souveniers! I really like the hat idea but may save that for another trip. They would get ruined at this time, but I definitely want to try out the frame idea. And an autograph book, if I can get a hold of a cute cheap one. Love that Abby picked out the Ariel dress. I'm sure she will be beyond excited when she sees that she got the Belle costume too!

HI! We did get a lot done. Thankfully, my children are very easy to handle and go along with almost anything! I think we are very lucky!!

The frame idea is the best one yet! Just bought a new one the other day for our Dec. trip. I want to get the princesses to sign it for my DD's room.

Abby is going to be thrilled Can't wait!!!

Girl, you really are making up for lost time - you've been an updating machine! But I'm so glad - I just love your updates!

What a neat idea with the mickey ear hats! They turned out so cute

I bet Abby is going to be so, so excited with her Belle costume! And how adorable is the matching AG outfit?!

It sounds like you all had a very full day. I'm definitely interested to hear how Aiden ended up the next day...

HAHA I have been updating so much! I hope to do 1 or 2 tomorrow depending on time. I have been SO busy!! I am trying to start my PTR by May for our December trip. I need to finish this one first!

Thanks! I think the hats are cute too!

Abby will be SO happy about the Belle costume! Then double happy when she sees one for her doll!

We were pretty tired, but it was worth it! Should update about DHS tomorrow!

Wonderful updates! Katie
I love the idea with the hats! I did not think I was getting a new hat this year (we just bought one last year and he did not want to wear it)...the dresses Abby choose are so cute. Ariel was always Gwendolyn's favorite princess. Can't wait to hear what happens to Aiden when he falls asleep that early...it is hit or miss with Ashton either he sleeps ALL night or he is up around 3 am ...

My kids don't really wear them either. We just use them as decor! haha

Ariel was one of my favorites too! Second to Belle! Funny that my daughter likes the same ones!

Ohhh wait till you see what Aiden did!

 

[longing2Batdisney]

That's funny you know Belle is Gwendolyn's second fav...she can not wait for Beauty and the Beast to be released on DVD! the year Little Mermaid was released she got that for Christmas...guess she'll be getting B&B for Christmas

I'm sure you and Gwendolyn are close in age

 

[BippityBoo]

**I am moving pretty fast on updating! I want to be able to get to my PTR by June, so I need to catch up from lost time! For those of you who missed my last two MK updates, I have links to all of my updates on my TR 1st page **


On to DHS!

Well…as most of you know, when a 2 year old goes to bed at 6 pm, he will most likely wake up at 3 am ready to play. That is exactly what happened with Aiden! He woke me up around 3 a.m. and asked me to put on Handy Manny! I tried to keep him quiet so he would not wake up my DD and DH. He really wanted to talk, though! I decided it would be best to get dressed and head down to the lobby for some exploring.

To be honest, I was pretty happy he woke up! I did not sleep very well while we were in WDW. I know it was because I was so excited, I just could not wait to wake up and get going to our next destination!

We made it down to the lobby and, of course, we were the only ones there! It was very quiet and very surreal. There were two workers at the desk, but nothing else was open. I do not take my camera because I was in such a fog, so I have no pictures except a couple on my phone. We ended up throwing MORE coins into the water and cuddled while rocking in front of the fire. I was really enjoying my alone time with my little buddy

Suddenly, we heard a loud noise. The maintenance men were pushing carts through the lobby, headed towards the Villas. Aiden suddenly started clapping and ran to watch them pass. He was waving at them and clapping. They were nice enough to wave back while he was screaming “Hi”! When they were gone, he turned to me and said “I like that parade!” I almost fell off my chair. The sweet child thought everything at WDW was a show, even the workers

We went back upstairs around 5am and got another 2 hours of sleep. It really was not too bad when we woke up again…excited for our DHS day!

The kids were wearing their Little Einstein shirts that I had made for them last year. Aiden’s barely fit him, so I was happy to get one last use out of it. You can’t see in this pic, but his has Leo and his name monogrammed.

At the bus stop, Abby made friends with a little girl named Blake. They were getting along so well and Abby was loving having a girl her age to talk to. We said goodbye when we arrived at DHS, but we do see them later on in the day!

Our plan was to make it to DHS for rope drop. We just barely missed it (about 15 minutes) because we had a longer bus ride then planned. That was ok though, because the park was pretty empty!!! We rented a stroller then headed off to get our TSM fastpasses!! Of course, we took the obligatory photopass pics in front of the hat and some pics of the sights.

We went straight to Toy Story Mania! We had to skip this ride during our first trip back in 2008, so we were all anxious to try it! When we arrived, there was already a 30 minute wait, so we just got our fastpasses and decided to come back around 10:45.

I had planned on getting a frozen coke from the CS right across from TSM. It is called Hey Howdy Hey Takeaway. SO cute! There was a really good article written about it on the Disney Food Blog recently. Check it out if you would like to read more!

http://www.disneyfoodblog.com/2010/03/11/hey-howdy-hey-takeaway-on-pixar-place/

We got popcorn, drinks and a special Buzz Lightyear water bottle for Aiden! He had discovered a new love for Buzz on this trip, so he was beyond happy to drink his water from his new favorite character!

Cont on next post...

 

[BippityBoo]

Next, we made our way to the Playhouse Disney Stage Show!

I just knew that Aiden was going to love it this year. We parked our strollers and went to stand in line. We still had our drinks with us. The rules of the show say no eating or drinking. However, we got away with it last year and had a nice, cool place to enjoy our drinks while watching the show. Well…no such luck this year! A very rude CM asked us to bring our drinks back to the stroller, so my DH went while I took the kids in to get a good spot.

Good spots to sit at the Playhouse Disney show have been debated for a while. Some people sit right up front to be close to the action. Some sit to the side in order to have more room to stretch their legs. We choose center, in front of the stage, but slightly back about half way. This was our view.

Most people will run to the front to get a “front row” seat, so there is ample time to stake out a middle-way spot. The problem with the front row is that some of the characters are hard to see. They do not stick the puppets very high, so sitting a little further back helps to be able to see them. It worked great for us this year and it was much easier for my kids to enjoy the show!

The kids LOVED seeing their favorite PHD characters in action. Aiden was in total awe of the whole experience. When a new set of songs would play (like the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse songs), his eyes would open wide and his jaw would drop open. They were clapping and dancing…we just LOVE this show.

When the show was over, we checked out the characters taking pics outside of the show. They usually have either Handy Manny, Jo Jo and Goliath, or some of the Little Einsteins. We were hoping and praying for Handy Manny because he is Aiden’s absolute favorite! Well…we were in luck! And Aiden was very excited he got to meet his friend, Manny

At this point, we went through the Animation building to meet the “Up” characters. They were on break and it seemed like everyone else had the same idea. The line was SO long! We decided to come back after lunch and try again.

We stumbled across the very end of the HSM show and watched for a while.

We still had about 30 minutes until our fastpass could be used…so we were off to my favorite ride---The Great Movie Ride!!!

We walked through the “holding” area and looked at all of the great movie props. Within 5 minutes or so, we were ready to board!

I was worried that Aiden would be scared during the shoot out scene and the Alien scene. Well…he fell asleep right away, so it was not a problem at all. Here are some of my favorite pics. It is always hard to find a setting on my camera to work on this ride!

After our ride, we decided to get lunch before heading to redeem our fastpasses at Toy Story Mania!

UP NEXT: What CS do we decide on? Will Toy Story Mania live up to the hype? Stay Tuned!

 

[BippityBoo]

That's funny you know Belle is Gwendolyn's second fav...she can not wait for Beauty and the Beast to be released on DVD! the year Little Mermaid was released she got that for Christmas...guess she'll be getting B&B for Christmas

I'm sure you and Gwendolyn are close in age

I would love to get B&B for Christmas I am 28, how old is Gwendolyn?

 

[SoonerGirl]

Hey there Katie! I got a little behind while I was out of town!

You're MK day sounded amazing! I love the moment Abby had in the store while trying to decide which princess dress to get I love Ariel so I was hoping she would pick that one - I bet she looks adorable in it!

Cute idea with the mouse ears!

I had a feeling when you said Aiden wouldn't wake up that evening that he would wake up in the middle of the night! That is too stinkin' cute that he thought the workers were a parade - that memory alone was worth getting up at 3 in the morning for!

Can't wait to hear what you guys thought of TSMM!

 

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

Awww, what a sweet time for you and Aiden in the WL lobby during the wee hours of the morning It's so cute that he thought the maintenance men were part of a parade!

It sounds like you had a great time at the Playhouse Disney show! And how great that Aiden was able to meet Manny!

I'm excited to hear about what you think about TSM. I've never ridden it - I'm wondering it if is like Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, because we aren't too fond of that ride.

 

[LilAnn]

Awww, I think that the comment Aiden made about loving the "parade" in the middle of the night is just precious! Adorable!

I can't wait to take our little DD to go see the Playhouse Disney show! She was excited seeing Handy Manny in your pic too. We'll see if she still wants to meet them up close when we go or if she gets scared of them again. I don't blame her, they are pretty big if you're only 2 feet tall, especially Goofy!

 

[Charlefours]

PHD is on our must do list for DHS--DD is sure to love it since it has some of her favorite characters! I don't think we went on the GMR so I hope to do it this go around too.

 

[ladybugmom]

YAY!! We just LOVE the Playhouse Disney show!! I'm sooo glad ya'll got to meet Handy Manny! How fun for Aiden!! Oh--and I love hosw you had the kid's Mickey hats signed! What a great idea!!!

 

[kcandbella]

Sounds like a great start to the day! That is so sweet about Aiden and the parade. It was probably nice to have some quiet time alone with him, even in the middle of the night. And of course he fell asleep on the ride...he was up at 3 am!

 

[photographymom517]

Hi, just joined your trip report! I love your report so far!!! I'm so excited to go this year in December! It was nice to see the decorations in your photos! I'm also glad I found your report because I didn't want to post pics of my family either. I was afraid no one would read my report if I didn't include them...but I love the idea of putting a star on your faces. I think that is what I will do as well!

It will be my first time at Hollywood Studios & my son loves Handy Manny & all of the PHD characters, so I'm excited to see his reaction to the shows & characters!

Love all the pics & the WL...have never been there but I've heard tons of great things about it! Your photos of the lodge are beautiful! I can't wait to see it at Christmas time! We are staying at CBR but plan to visit all the resorts just to see the Christmas decor!!!

Do you happen to know if there are certain rides you are absolutely not allowed to take pictures on? Last year I tried taking some on the Mexico ride at EPCOT & another lady (not a CM, just a visitor) yelled at me very loudly! So I was just curious about it!

Great report...can't wait to read more!!!!

 

[BippityBoo]

Hey there Katie! I got a little behind while I was out of town!

You're MK day sounded amazing! I love the moment Abby had in the store while trying to decide which princess dress to get I love Ariel so I was hoping she would pick that one - I bet she looks adorable in it!

Cute idea with the mouse ears!

I had a feeling when you said Aiden wouldn't wake up that evening that he would wake up in the middle of the night! That is too stinkin' cute that he thought the workers were a parade - that memory alone was worth getting up at 3 in the morning for!

Can't wait to hear what you guys thought of TSMM!

Thank you!!! I loved that moment too! HAHA the parade story gets me every time. Little boys are so great---aren't they? I am updating tonight! woohoo!

Awww, what a sweet time for you and Aiden in the WL lobby during the wee hours of the morning It's so cute that he thought the maintenance men were part of a parade!

It sounds like you had a great time at the Playhouse Disney show! And how great that Aiden was able to meet Manny!

I'm excited to hear about what you think about TSM. I've never ridden it - I'm wondering it if is like Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, because we aren't too fond of that ride.

You will LOVE TSM!! I am updating about it tonight (hopefully). Isn't that parade story the best?! Kids are so funny, even if they do have you up at 3am! haha

Awww, I think that the comment Aiden made about loving the "parade" in the middle of the night is just precious! Adorable!

I can't wait to take our little DD to go see the Playhouse Disney show! She was excited seeing Handy Manny in your pic too. We'll see if she still wants to meet them up close when we go or if she gets scared of them again. I don't blame her, they are pretty big if you're only 2 feet tall, especially Goofy!

Awww happy that she got to see the pictures! I have to say that Aiden was a little nervous at first b/c Manny is one of the larger ones. It helped to have his big sister there helping him out. I think she will do great!

PHD is on our must do list for DHS--DD is sure to love it since it has some of her favorite characters! I don't think we went on the GMR so I hope to do it this go around too.

OH WOW! GMR is one of my favorites. Just because I have always wanted to go to Oz! (ha). PHD is just a great kid show all the way around. Can't wait to see how she likes it!

YAY!! We just LOVE the Playhouse Disney show!! I'm sooo glad ya'll got to meet Handy Manny! How fun for Aiden!! Oh--and I love hosw you had the kid's Mickey hats signed! What a great idea!!!

Thanks Becky! We sure did get lots of things signed that trip! haha
Aiden was excited to meet Manny. Wait till you see how much he loved Lightning!

Sounds like a great start to the day! That is so sweet about Aiden and the parade. It was probably nice to have some quiet time alone with him, even in the middle of the night. And of course he fell asleep on the ride...he was up at 3 am!

It was so special, I will never got get it. HAHAH great point. I was surprised that he lasted as long as he did that day! I hope to update more tonight!

Hi, just joined your trip report! I love your report so far!!! I'm so excited to go this year in December! It was nice to see the decorations in your photos! I'm also glad I found your report because I didn't want to post pics of my family either. I was afraid no one would read my report if I didn't include them...but I love the idea of putting a star on your faces. I think that is what I will do as well!

It will be my first time at Hollywood Studios & my son loves Handy Manny & all of the PHD characters, so I'm excited to see his reaction to the shows & characters!

Love all the pics & the WL...have never been there but I've heard tons of great things about it! Your photos of the lodge are beautiful! I can't wait to see it at Christmas time! We are staying at CBR but plan to visit all the resorts just to see the Christmas decor!!!

Do you happen to know if there are certain rides you are absolutely not allowed to take pictures on? Last year I tried taking some on the Mexico ride at EPCOT & another lady (not a CM, just a visitor) yelled at me very loudly! So I was just curious about it!

Great report...can't wait to read more!!!!

Thank you for joining!!! I know, I was worried about the pics too, but I seem to have SOME followers. HAHA I put the stars on them when editing in photobucket. A DISer gave me the idea!

In DHS---Playhouse Disney is a MUST for your son. He will just love it!!

The WL is amazing!! We were there early January, but they had already taken down the Christmas decor in the Resort. We were just lucky that they were still in some of the parks. I have seen pics and heard amazing things about WL during Christmas! I will be posting about our dinner at Whispering Canyon tonight, take a look! Maybe you will want to eat there!?

I can not believe someone told you something about taking pics. The Mexico ride, we were the only ones riding. But, normally I tried to refrain from flash. I kept it on on accident during one of our Haunted Mansion tours. I felt bad b.c a huge light came out and kind of ruined the end of the ride! haha, I should update on that soon.

Thanks for reading!!! When are you going to WDW? We will be there mid Dec.

 

[BippityBoo]

Last we left, we were out of the Great Movie Ride and looking for lunch!

I had planned a quick lunch at ABC Commissary, which is located very close to the GMR. After our short walk, we were there!

I did not know what to expect from this restaurant. I feel that DHS is really lacking in the Counter Service options. I have to say that we were fairly happy with our choice. The atmosphere was really lacking. The whole theme went along with the “ABC”/TV theme. They had soap operas playing and props from television shows. When I saw this, I felt that the meal was worth it. Dresses from Desperate Housewives!! I love that show. It was neat to see them up close.

As for the food, it was actually pretty good! My DH got a burger, I got fried fish. Abby (and Aiden when he wakes up) got chicken nuggets. The best part of the meal were the desserts. They were surprisingly amazing! Here is a pic of the inside---

After our meal, we were off to ride Toy Story!!

We arrived and walked right in with our fastpasses. I just LOVE the props in the waiting area. From what I have read, the whole idea is to make you feel small like you are a toy. All of the giant gaming pieces and toys…it was awesome. Aiden was still sleeping, but Abby especially loved the giant Candy Land game. That is her favorite!

We did have to wait about 15 minutes until we were ready to ride. It was not too bad though, because there was a lot to look at. When we got to the area where we collect our 3D glasses, I thought we were about to board. We ended up having to walk up a steep flight of stairs (not easy when carrying a baby), then we waited a little more. I decided to let my DH ride with Abby to enjoy the ride and that I would carry sleeping Aiden.

My DH and Abby loaded with no problem. I tried to sit down and keep Aiden sleeping sideways on my lap, but the CM quickly told me he needed to sit next to me. I saw why when the lap bar came down and hit him! Haha. That woke him up! You can see in this pic, there is not much room.

I plopped him right next to me and held on tight with one arm. I attempted to play with the other arm.

This game is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!

All I could hear was my DD screaming with delight when we began to move from game to game. It is a thrill within itself. My son was awake now and enjoying all of his favorite Toy Story characters. A must do if in DHS! Totally worth the time and wait.

When we got out of TSM, we quickly walked to check out the wait on Rockin Roller Coaster. NO LUCK AGAIN! Over a 50 minute wait. We have horrible luck with this ride. We decided it was not a big deal, and kept walking.

Cont on next post...

 

[BippityBoo]

My DH saw that there was a 10 minute wait on Tower of Terror.

I told him to jump on while the kids and I went to get seats at the Beauty and the Beast stage show.

I took the kids to the B&B auditorium and we found a great spot right up front on the left hand side. We sat there during our last trip too. It seems that no one really wants to go on that side for some reason The whole place was packed, but we got a seat right up front.

My DH made it right before the show started. He was beaming from his ToT ride!! I am so happy he got to ride!

The show started and the kids were thrilled. They love the song “Bonjour” and we listen to it all the time in the car. I am in LOVE with this show. It is a major highlight of my Disney vacation. I feel like I am watching a Broadway show! Take a look---

After the amazing show, we went to get the stroller. A very nice CM asked my daughter if she would like to trade pins. We had brought her lanyard to the park in an attempt to begin pin trading. We had never done it before!

She explained to Abby that if you trade with a CM, they have special pins with a tiny silver Mickey ear on them. She said to look for those special pins when trading with the CMs. They get a certain amount of them to trade with the guests.

She took the time to explain everything to her and we were again impressed with the kindness of Disney CMs!!! We took a picture with her to remember Abby’s first trade. She ended up picking a Mickey train (similar to the one in the Magic Kingdom). It is adorable!

After she was bitten by the pin trading bug, Abby ran to the pin cart in the street and bought a Phineas and Ferb and a Wizards of Waverly place pin. This girl can shop! Wait until you see the pic of her lanyard at the end of our vacation. It is now FULL

We realized it was about 30 minutes until the parade began, so we went to stake out our spot. My DH got the kids Mickey Bars again. This is a great tip because the kids take at least 5-10 mintues to finish eating the bar, so they behave great

We picked the spot on the farthest corner down Hollywood Boulevard, right where the shops end. This turned out to be an excellent spot!!!

This was our view to the right—

And our view to the left---

The Sheriff and the “Director” (who are obviously CMs working as part of the street act) came over and started talking to us. They started saying “I can tell you guys are rich, look at your kids’ matching shoes! Those are nice shoes! And your in Disney in the middle of January! What do you do for a living? Do you even have a job?” My husband (in between bites of his Mickey bar) answered back “I am a Real Estate Broker” They started yelling and sort of poking fun at him. Then, they started talking about the kids’ shirts with their names monogrammed. They asked if we had to do that in case we forgot what their names were! It was great!

No one around us were humoring them (we tend to be very open and talkative) so they just kept coming back to us! I wish I had taken a picture of them…it was so funny!

The parade was due to start in 5 minutes. We had been sitting in our spot, at this point, about 20 minutes. All of a sudden, a woman and her two kids walked up and tried to squeeze in next to us, blocking my kid’s view of the parade.

UP NEXT: What do we do about the woman trying to take over our spot? Also…a sneak peak of NEW Disney movies advertised at DHS! Let me say we were VERY excited about these!

--PLUS--

Our dinner at Whispering Canyon! Stay tuned

 

[onelilspark]

I'm back! Thanks for posting updates when I was gone...gives me something to read this morning